Society awarded grant for decorative corrals

The German Village Society's attempts to clean up boxes used to distribute periodicals have gotten a boost from the Columbus Foundation.

The Society received a $10,000 grant to put up three-sided decorative corrals around the boxes, which are clustered at four locations on South Third Street.

The GVS' streetscape committee has been working for months on ways to shield what they consider to be unattractive boxes -- some faded, some in disrepair -- from which newspapers and other types of periodicals can be obtained.

Tim Bibler, who is chairman of the streetscape committee, said he's attempting to reach owners of the unused boxes to have them removed.

Otherwise, the neighborhood's hands are tied, because communities cannot prohibit the boxes from being placed on the sidewalk, the city attorney's office says.

Lisa Courtice, executive vice president of the Columbus Foundation, said the funds were awarded through Joseph A. Jeffrey Endowment Fund. Seven projects -- six in Columbus and one in Bexley -- received a total of $70,285, Courtice said.

"When we have a good project like this to beautify the city, it's a great fit," she said of the German Village effort.

Jody Graichen, historic preservation officer for the society, said the corrals accomplish two things: getting rid of a blemish while preserving the integrity of the neighborhood.

"I think it a worthy project in that it will clean up a portion of the street in a neat and uniform way but it's not going to detract from our historic buildings," she said.

"It's not going to detract from our historic streetscape."

Meanwhile, the streetscape committee is still in the process of choosing a final design for the corrals, Bibler said. The committee next meets Dec. 18 in the Meeting Haus. The design will be considered by the German Village Commission, the local architectural review board.

After Jan. 1, the committee will solicit bids for design work.

The corrals likely won't be installed until spring at the earliest.

Bibler said the $10,000 grant might not pay for all installation costs and the committee has yet to identify additional funding to pay for the entire project.